6 fun facts about Air Force Two

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, paused Friday at the Indianapolis International Airport for a selfie with Stephanie Eastman, of Indianapolis, and her daughter Kaylee, Sept. 22, 2017. Stephanie's husband, Jason, is serving in Iraq.
Robert King

US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence wave as they board their plane to leave Estonia at the airport in Tallinn on July 31, 2017.
Estonia was the first stop of Pence's European tour which will also take him to Georgia and Montenegro.(Photo: RAIGO PAJULA, AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – While there's a lot of fascination about Air Force One, less is known about how the vice president travels. Here are some fun facts about Air Force Two:

More than one plane

Like Air Force One, Air Force Two is not a specific plane, but is the radio call sign for whatever plane the vice president is using. That typically is a C-32A, a military plane whose commercial equivalent is a Boeing 757. There are a fleet of planes the Air Force operates for Mike Pence, as well as for Cabinet members and other top officials. And while the president has a much larger plane (along with a backup) for his use, he can take a C-32A if a smaller plane is needed.

Even the vice president can have plane trouble

Air Force Two may be able to land itself and stop itself on full auto pilot if necessary, but it can’t always avoid other flying objects. After birds struck the plane carrying Vice President Joe Biden in 2012, he switched to another plane as a precautionary measure. Former Secretary of State John Kerry had worse luck with planes from the same fleet used for his frequent trips. Planes broke down on him several times in 2014. The current secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, recently had to make an unscheduled overnight stop in Tokyo because of a maintenance problem, according to The Washington Post.

Better ones coming

The Air Force asked Congress this year for $6 million to start the planning process for replacing the C-32As, which will reach the end of their 25-year service life in 2023. The next version will have better communications, increased flying range, more room for passengers and improved private work space. That will make their capabilities closer to what the president has on Air Force One.

What happens to the old planes

Previous planes used by vice presidents and other top officials have been transferred to Air Force reserve units, auctioned off and donated to museums. Visitors to the Air Mobility Command Museum in Delaware can tour a VC-9C — the first to have a special communications suite installed for vice presidents — that was retired in 2005 after transporting Vice Presidents George H. W. Bush, Dan Quayle, Walter Mondale and Dick Cheney. Also on display are pieces of Air Force Two serving ware and playing cards featuring the vice presidential seal, which were given to flying guests.

Interior of VC-9, serial number 73-1682 - Air Force two - after it arrived at Dover, Del. on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011.(Photo: GARY EMEIGH, GANNETT)

How much it costs to fly

The C-32A costs about $30,000 an hour to operate in 2016, according to the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency. Media traveling with the vice president pay for their seats. Even aides to the vice president are billed for meals they consume. And if the vice president takes the plane to a political event, the party reimburses the government following a formula written in law.

The story behind the distinctive design

The blue-and-white exterior, emblazoned with “United States of America,” is so familiar by now that it’s hard to imagine Air Force One or Two any other way. But when the first jet was added to the presidential fleet in 1959, the plane’s nose and tail were the “international orange” color favored by the Air Force, presidential historian Michael Beschloss has written. Block letters on the side proclaimed it the property of the Military Air Transport Service.

While that suited President Dwight D. Eisenhower just fine, President John F. Kennedy and his wife wanted something better. The fuselage was repainted with the words “United States of America." But top industrial designer Raymond Loewy — who found the plane’s color scheme “rather gaudy” — offered to come up with a new look for free. His collaboration with the Kennedys resulted in the current look, although it took a special dispensation from the secretary of defense to use blue paint, according to a 2009 article published by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, which calls the design “smart and subtle.”

Vice President Mike Pence, aboard Air Force Two, lands at 4:27 p.m. April 8, 2017, at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers on his way to visit Sanibel Island, Fla.(Photo: Kinfay Moroti, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press)